🔗 Share this article Are You Able to Crack It? That Overlooked Netherlands Invention That Forged the Contemporary World One can find numerous contenders for the title of “planet’s most significant innovation.” The circular axle. The printing press. The combustion motor. As per a recent publication, however, that title should go to the automated sawmill invented through Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593. “Prior to mechanised cutting, constructing a simple trading ship necessitated approximately ten sawyers laboring over three months,” notes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-driven sawmills, an identical quantity of processed timber could be produced in less than seven days.” Thanks to this rapid automated cutter, that turned timber into boards using almost no manual labor, the Dutch were able to build ships more quickly compared to any other nation, an advantage that unleashed one hundred years of Dutch naval, financial as well as artistic supremacy in Europe and the world. The First True Industrial Machine Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, argues Dávila, was “mankind’s first authentic factory machine.” A windmill rotated a gear. One component transformed the rotary motion into up-and-down action for the cutting blade. Another component transformed the rotary motion into a lateral motion advancing the log to the blade. A ratchet system shifted the log forward one precise increment each cycle. “Every component was modest by itself. Corneliszoon’s genius was to integrate these parts in order that the machine operated within a perfectly controlled order, cutting on every descending stroke and moving on every upward stroke. This constituted a remarkably clever application of fundamental parts.” Which brings us up to the current challenge. I’d like for you to reinvent one of the fundamental ideas behind this historic invention. Round and Up Design a machine which converts rotary movement into vertical action. You have these items only: A spinning wheel. Two pins. Two rods. A “guide”, which is a tube or housing through which one of the rods will fit perfectly. (Consider that you can put things on a base, so that the parts do not collapse.) I’ll be back at 5pm UK featuring the solution. Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Instead, feel free to suggest (non obvious) candidates as the planet’s most impactful creation.